Appliance for mending ladders



Dec. 5, 1950 o. JOHO 2,532,409

APPLIANCE FOR MENDING LADDERS Filed July 17, 1947 Oiga Joha Patented Dec. 5, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application July :17, v1947,- Seriail No; 761,497.

.InrSwitzerland August 8, 1946 oanalternately be. opened and closed, said cam being provided with a recess which is entered b the pointed end of the hook when closing.

' Theaccompanyin drawing illustrates by way 'of example. three preferredforms of embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a lateral view of thefirst form,

Fig. 2 is corresponding partial longitudinal section,

Fig. .3 represents a fragmentary top view seen in the direction of the arrow In of Fig. 2,.

Fig. 4 shows a cross-section taken'on the line IVIV .of-Fig. 21. r 1 Fig. 5 is a modified form of theslide member,

Fig. 6'shows a cross-section on theline VIVI of Fig. 5,

Figs. 'l'to 10 shows the manipulation andac tion of the appliance in different .stagesof ladder mending, V

Fig. 11 represents a 'partial'longitudinal section and a partial lateral View of the second form of embodiment,

Fig. '12 is a top view of the mender shown in the direction of the arrow XII of Fig. 11,

Figll l. [Referring to Figsl to 4, numeral I designates a tubular shank whose forward end is shaped to form a hook 2. Two lateral stepped guide faces 3 lead from hook 2.130 the cylindrical. portion of the shank. Theshank I has attached to its rear end a bail 4 serving as a handle. bedded in shank I is the cylindrical slide 5 connected to said bail 4 by a pull spring 5. Mounted on the slide 5 is a cross-pin! engaging .a guiding slot 8 provided in an auxiliary-web i; of the bail shapedas to form a cam HJ, whose. rearwardly slopedface IIv serves to confine an upper depression-on the side obverted to the cam. At the frontend the cam I 8 goes through a guiding face I2 over in a tongue I3 forming the forward pointed .end of the slide member. An intermedi ate longitudinal groove subdivides the cam in two equal portions between which the hook 2 enters with its free end, if the slide 5 is correspondingly displacedlengthwise on shank I. The pull spring 6. tends to keep the slide 5 in the retraoted position as in Fig. 2, in which the rear confining face. II of thedepression (of slide 5) adjacent the cam registers withthe two lateral guide faces 3 on shank I.

The manipulation and action. of. the aforedescribedappliance is apparent from Figs. '7-- to 10. These figures exhibit a portion of a loop structure between the-vertical loop rows I5 and I6 thereof a ladder I! can be seen. To mend this, .the point of the shank is as in Fig. 7 passed through the loop I8 of the still em'sting top stitch voflthe ladder H, i. e. so far, until the loop I8 .comesto lie behind the cam I!) in the depression formed. by the twosloped faces Il'and Ii. Now the mender is withdrawn in the direction of the arrow A in Fig. 8, whereby the uppermost cross thread I9. of the ladder I! becomes engaged by the openhook. 2 and is carried oil. As then the shank-can be withdrawn further, as in Fig. 9, the. cam. I0 dwells momentarily in its position relative to the.'loop l8, since the loop lying behind the cam Ill' retains the same and prevents its regression. Thereby the cam ll! becomes dis placed towards the open end. of the hook, the lattereventuaHy entering the recess M on cam II! .to close the hook- Upon further withdrawal of the shank I the loop l3 finally slips over the closed hook, while the former cross thread 19 has beendrawnout to form a fresh loop. 19''. Theshaft is then again passed forwards through the loop. I9, to cause this to slide over the cam lfl into thenotch ordepression behind the same (Fig. '7). The 'lift' of the next loop is thereafter accomplished in the same way as described.

Inthe modified form, as in Figs. 5 and v6, the

slide member. 5 is of channeled cross-section to form the longitudinal groove Id which in the use of the appliance permits temporary reception of the hook Zbetween the two portions of the cam III. The. rear. guide face ll of the cam Ill is curved soasto form a corner together with the adjacent confiningface Ii of the upper depressionofithe slide members 5, in which corner, on movingthe needle, the tautthread is each time received by the said depression, to withhold it to a certain extent to prevent its premature slipping off the cam I, which must only take place when the hook has caught another thread; the slide member can be drawn through the taut thread against the action of its spring to close the hook. In this form of embodiment the forward guide face l2 of the cam It extends stepless and evenly towards the underside of the slide member to form a pointed portion therewith.

Also in this case a shank of channeled crosssection is provided to guide the slide member. In addition the shank has two lateral guide faces leading from the hook to the body proper, said faces being adapted to the run of the forward guide face l2 of the cam N1 of slide 5, i. e. they.

are stepless.

In the form of embodiment according to Figs. 11 and 12, numeral i again denotes the shank with thehook 2, the shank being of channeled cross-section. Contrary to the forms as per Figs. 1 to 3 the hook is not rounded in a semicircular Way but first extends straight at an inclination and is then bent back at an acute angle a (Fig. 11) with respect to the lower edge of the shank to terminate in a pointed end portion 2a, lying parallel to the longitudinal axis thereof. This design of the hook allows of a very smooth and rapid slipping of the loop from the hook. In this embodiment the cam H1 is formed by a latch accommodated in the hollow space of the shank and rockable about an axis 20 extending transversely to the plane of the hook. A recess 14 of the latch is adapted to receive the pointed end of the hook when closing.

The shank is in axial direction displaceably supported in a holder 2| and isfitted with three notches or rests 22, 23 and 24, said holder 2| including a set screw 25 for selective engagement with one of the rests 22 to 24. Numeral 26 marks a pull spring arranged inside the holder 2! and wound round the rear end of the shank, being anchored at one end (21) in the holder 2|, and at the other end secured to the latch I0 Said spring tends to keep the latch H3 in the open position as shown in Fig. 11. By axially displacing the shank i in holder 21 the tension of said spring 26 may be varied within wide limits. When the set screw 25 engages the rest 24, then the spring tension is greatest and the mending appliance can be used for narrows, coarse and strongly knitted ware. If, on the other hand, the screw 25 is set in rest 22, the spring tension is at its lowest which allows the mender to be utilized preferably for fine knitted ware. The intermediate rest 23 is used for mending cotton and coarse knitted silk stockings. For the remainder the manipulation and action of this appliance is the same as disclosed with reference to Figs. 1 to 10.

In the third form of embodiment according to Figs. 13 to 15, numeral 1 again designates the shank, 2 the hook, and I0 the latch that is rockable about the axis 20.

In contradistinction to the example as per Figs. 11 and 12, in the form according to Figs. 1445, a plate spring 28 is provided for rocking the latch into the open position. This plat spring is at one end fixed in the latch I0 and bears at the other end against an abutment 29 of a holding bail whose springy limbs 30 embrace the shank 1 laterally. The holding bail is longitudinally movable relative to the shank and may be arrested in various positions. To this end the two limbs 3a of the holding bail are each on their inner surfaces, with a projection 3| adapted to cooperate with the rests 32, 33 and 34 arranged in the shank.

The plate spring 28 is most taut on looking the holding bail in the rests 32, while the spring is taut at its lowest when the projections 3i engage the rests 34. The rests 33 correspond to a medium sprin tension. For the remainder the manipulation and action of the appliance is the same as with the forms previously described.

Instead of being round or channeled, the shank may be for instance, of oval or angular (three, four and more angled) cross-section. The slide is given a cross-section such as to permit of its easyworking in the shank; with angular crosssection'of the shank, the slide may, instead of being conformed in shape, also be of circular cross-section. In every case due provision will of course be made to hold the slide member from rotating relative to the shank; for this the slide may, for instance, be fitted with a lateral wing or may have two such wings passing on opposite sides of th shank through guide slots so dimensioned as to limit at the same time the displacement of the slide member. Alternatively, the latter member may be located for instance, in a cylindrically shaped handle instead of a lateral one. Instead of a, pull spring, the slide member may also be loaded by an expansion spring mounted conveniently into the device and tending to keep the slide member in its retracted or rest position.

If required a limited displaceable and spring biassed sleeve may be arranged on the shank to serve as an abutment for the ware to be mended to limit the protrusion of the appliance by means of the edge of the desirably enlarged front end of said sleeve.

Being of comparatively simple and cheap design, the aforedescribed mending appliance permits of reliable working with but little eifort.

What I claim is:

1. In an appliance for mending ladders of ladies stockings, the combination of a hollow shank having at one end a hook; a cam mounted in said shank to close and open said hook, alternatively, said cam being designed as a latch rockable about an axis extending transversely of the plane of the hook; and a spring connected to said cam for adj ustably biasing said cam.

2. A mending appliance according to claim 1, in which said shank is of channeled cross-section, the latch being located in said hollow space thereof.

3. A mending appliance according to claim 1, having a holder in which said shank is axially displaceable and arrestable in various positions with respect to the holder and said spring being a pull spring which has one end anchored to said holder and the other end secured to said latch, so that the tension of said spring may be varied selectively by axially displacing the shank in said holder.

4. An appliance according to claim 1 in which the spring is a leaf spring one end of which is fixed to said latch, and an abutment against which bears the other end of said spring, said abutment being adjustably mounted in said shankto adjust the tension of said spring.

5. An appliance according to claim 1 in which said latch is rockable through an angle of less than 6. An appliance according to claim 1 in which said cam has a convex surface concentric with said axis.

7. In an appliance for mending ladders of ladies stockings, a hollow shank having a hook at one end including a portion extending forwardly and upwardly at an obtuse angle to the shank and another portion extending rearwardly from said first portion and defining an acute angle therewith, a cam latch mounted in said shank rearwardly of and adjacent said hook and adapted to close and open said hook alternatively, said cam latch having a recess in alignment with the end of the hook and adapted to receive the same when the cam latch is closing, means mounting the cam latch for rocking movement about an axis transverse to the shank and the hook, a biasing spring connected to the cam latch,

and means for adjusting the tension of said spring to adjustably bias the said cam latch.

8. An appliance as defined in and by claim 7 including a holder in which the shank islongitudinally slidably mounted, a spring secured at one end to the cam latch, coiled around a portion of the shank and anchored to the holder, said shank having a plurality of spaced notches therein and a set screw threaded through said holder and engageable in any of said notches whereby the shank can be longitudinally displaced relative to said holder and fixed in said displaced position to adjust the tension of said spring to adjustably bias said cam latch.

9. An appliance as defined in and by claim 7 in which said shank is channel-shaped, a leaf REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,734,423 Finch Nov. 5, 1929 1,811,524 Vitoux June 23, 1931 2,246,938 I-Iolub June 24, 1941 2,252,302 Morith Aug. 12, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 464,635 Great Britain Apr. 21, 1937 855,580 France Feb. 19, 1940 862,825 France Dec. 16, 1940 

